GCB Bank disburses GH¢20m to SMEs
The GCB Commercial Bank has disbursed GH¢20 million to 603 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) under its SME loan scheme established nine months ago.
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The scheme is aimed at providing SMEs with short to medium-term credit facilities up to the tune of GH¢50,000 without collateral in an effort to help local businesses grow.
The facility is in five components — bridge and term loans, overdraft, contingent liability and line of credit.
An automated credit scoring system is used in determining the eligibility of a business for a loan.
The Head of Consumer Banking at GCB Bank, Mrs Doris Wunu made this known at an SME business forum organised by the bank in Accra last Monday.
It was on the theme: “Sustaining SME opportunities in today’s market,” and was aimed at building the capacities of the enterprises which are customers of the bank.
It was the first meeting in a series to be held for operators of SMEs.
Role
Mrs Wunu said although the sector contributed immensely to the economy, financial institutions had often neglected them in their strategies and resource allocation mechanisms.
According to her, the sector constituted more than 92 per cent of registered businesses and nearly 99 per cent of unregistered businesses, noting that it was unfortunate that it had been ignored and allowed to be taken advantage of by loan sharks and swindlers.
Having determined some of the weakness of the SMEs, she said, the meetings would build the capacities of the businesses and equip them with required knowledge and skills to enable them to sustain and improve on their businesses.
Some of the stakeholders at the forum
Mrs Wunu indicated that the “GCB Bank is determined to support and help nurture businesses in the SME sector, so that they develop and possibly become popular brands”.
Commitment
The Managing Director of the GCB Bank, Mr Ernest Mawuli Agbesi, underscored the important role SMEs played in the growth of the economy.
He said, businesses in the SME sector contributed about 70 per cent to the country’s GDP and accounted for 75 per cent of employment in general.
He said despite those contributions by SMEs, statistics showed that three out of every five of such businesses failed within the first few months of their set-up due to inadequate financing.
While some SME operators failed to meet bank requirements for loans to enhance their businesses, others also retreated from going for loans due to high lending rates, he said.
According to Mr Agbesi, having identified the potential in the sector, the GCB Bank had placed SMEs at the core of its business strategy and was ready to ensure that the sector survived and developed.
“The bank recognises that SMEs have opportunities to develop to become home-grown multinational companies,” he said.
He, therefore, urged SMEs to take advantage of the wide range of products and services the bank offered to improve on their businesses.
